Method and device for straightening stockings and stacking the same



July 15, 1969 w. ROSSLER 3,455,124

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR STRAIGHTENING STOCKINGS AND STACKING THE SAME Filed Dec. 20, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Vrne R'ssler Attorneys MET ICE F STRAIGHTENING ST KINGS AND STACKING THE SAME Filed Dec. 20, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 3,455,124 METHOD AND DEVICE FOR STRAIGHTENING STOCKINGS AND STACKING THE SAME Werner Rossler, Margarethen 1, Sonthofen, Allgau, Germany Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 448,193, Apr. 14, 1965. This application Dec. 20, 1967, Ser. No. 692,197

Claims priority, application Germany, Apr. 22, 1964,

R 37,748 Int. Cl. D04b 15/88; B65g 53/04 US. Cl. 66147 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and an apparatus for collecting stockings when they are discharged from a circular knitting machine. The stockings are conveyed into a horizontal elongated tubular housing having a nipple at one end for alternately creating an air stream in opposite directions in said housing. The housing is provided with a downwardly opening discharge flap and at the nipple with a gripper for engaging and releasing the pointed end of the stocking during operation of the knitting machine. When the air stream flows in a direction away from said gripper, the stocking is straightened lengthwise and the closure flap automatically opens and discharges the stocking. If the stocking is not gripped, the air flow urges the stocking in a direction toward the inlet end of the housing and operates a switch which stops the operation of the knitting machine.

The invention relates to a method and a device for manipulating stockings which are produced and discharged by a circular knitting machine, and is a continuation-in-part of the inventors application Ser. No. 448,193 filed Apr. 14, 1965, now abandoned. In particular, the knitted stockings as they leave the circular knitting machine are conveyed by an air stream to a location where they are longitudinally straightened out and in this straightened condition they are stacked one upon the other in a neat and orderly pile.

It has been proposed heretofore to remove knitted stockings by suction air from a circular knitting machine and conveying the stockings into a discharge pot which discharges the completed stockings. The discharged stocking is deposited in a disorderly and partly twisted condition in a container, for instance a bag. It is, therefore, necessary to straighten out these stockings before subjecting them to the next working step.

It is now an object of the invention to manipulate the stockings when they are discharged by the circular knitting machine so that they are straightened out and ready for the next working step.

For this purpose the method of the present invention provides for a conveying of the knitted stocking as it comes from the circular knitting machine into a longitudinal horizontally disposed chamber. This conveying step is performed by a suction air stream. At one end of this chamber the point portion of the stocking is seized by a clamping tool and as soon as this has been accomplished, the direction of the air stream in the chamber is reversed which has the result that the stocking is straightened out and stretched. Thereupon the air stream is shut off, the clamping tool is opened and the straightened stocking drops through the open-end bottom of the chamber into a container in which the stockings are neatly stacked one upon the other.

The invention will now be described in greater detail will reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates diagrammatically a side elevation nited States Patent view of a portion of a circular knitting machine and the device of the invention connected therewith for receiving atrlid straightening a stocking produced by the knitting mac me;

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 show each a different working step of the stocking straightening device illustrated in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 also illustrates a container for receiving the straightened stockings which are discharged one by one from the stretching chamber thereabove;

FIG. 3a is an end elevation view of the device substantially in the plane IIIaIIIa of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4a is an end elevation view of the device substantially in the plane IVIV of FIG. 4;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the screen in the discharge nipple and the clamping device adjacent thereto;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the left hand end of the devlice and illustrates the clamping device in an enlarged sca e;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of a control mechanism for controlling the admission of air to the device of the invention;

FIG. 8 is an end elevation view of the control mechanism shown in FIG. 7, and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged View of the safety switch provided on the device of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a circular knitting machine has connected thereto a U-shaped tubular conduit 1 in which is produced a suction air stream flowing in the direction of ,the arrow A for conveying the finished stocking C, when it is removed from or released by the knitting needles, into a horizontally disposed tubular body 2. This tubular body 2 has, as shown in FIGS. 3a and 4a, a somewhat trapezoidal cross section and the two walls forming an acute angle between the same are facing downwardly and form the bottom of the body. One of these two walls is provided with a hinged flap 7 extending the entire length of the tubular body 2. The hinge 7a extends along the upper edge of the flap 7 so that when the flap 7 moves outwardly as illustrated in FIG. 4a any article, such as a stocking, is discharged from the tubular body 2 by gravity.

The suction air stream continues to flow in the direction of the arrow A as shown in FIG. 1 during the knitting of the stocking C and as long as no stocking has been conveyed into the tubular body 2. During this time the suction air is discharged from the tubular body 2 by the branch tube 3 attached to the tubular body 2 adjacent its right hand end. This is required for the reason that the left hand end of the tubular body 2 is provided with a screen in front of the suction discharge nipple 4. This screen reduces the effective cross-sectional area of the nipple 4 so that not sufiicient air for the removal of the stocking from the knitting machine can pass through the nipple 4. The screen has the purpose to prevent the stocking from being drawn into the nipple 4 and the tubular line attached thereto.

In front .of the screen is arranged a clamping device 5 for gripping the pointed part or toe end of the knitted stocking C as soon as the latter is pulled by the suction air stream lengthwise into the tubular body 2 until the toe end reaches the screen 4a as shown in FIG. 2. As soon as the pointed part of the stocking C reaches the screen and has been seized by the clamping device 5, the direction of the air stream is reversed in the tubular body 2, as shown in FIG. 3, and this causes a stretching of the stocking C as shown in FIG. 3.

The clamping device comprises a finger 5 which is fixedly attached with one end to a pivoted shaft 5a extending transversely through the nipple 4. The other free end of the finger 5 projects through a radial slot 5b in the screen 4a so that the pointed part of the stocking C is first clamped by the free end of the fingerS against the lower edge of the nipple 4.

FIG. 6 discloses in an enlarged scale that the shaft a has fixedly mounted on one of its ends projecting from the nipple 4 a lever arm 9 whose free end is rotatably connected at 10 to the end of a piston rod 11 attached to a piston 12 slidable in a horizontal cylinder 13. I

The rear end of the cylinder 13 is pivotally attached at 13a to a bearing block 13b and is also connected with a pipe 14 which alternately is connected to means supplying compressed air and air suction. The solid lines in FIG. 6 illustrate the parts, and particularly the finger 5, in an operative position in which the'toe portion of the stocking C is clamped against the lower edge of the nipple 4. The broken lines show the parts of the clamping device in an inoperative position.

The FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate in a side elevation and an end elevation view, respectively, a control drum 15 which is mounted on the same shaft as the main indexing drum M which in known manner forms a part of each circular knitting machine. The drum 15 has five cams 16 on its circumference which during the rotation of the drum engage rollers 17 arranged on control levers 18 of conventional compressed air valves 19. As is apparent from FIG. 8, when a cam 16 raises a roller 17, a valve 19 will be opened so that compressed air introduced by the pipe 20 will be permitted to flow through the valve 19 or will be stopped. A pipe 21 leads to the individual control mechanism of the device, for instance to the pipe line 14. The drum 15 with its five cams 16 performs all of the required control functions of the device.

The suction air conveys the stocking to the sceen 4a. In actual practice the pointed part of the stocking C will engage the screen 4a first. This is due to the fact that the pointed part is always reinforced when it is produced by the circular knitting machine and as a consequence, the reinforced pointed part of the stocking reaches the screen first.

Shortly after the pointed part of the stocking C has engaged the screen 4a, the valve 19 is operated by ,the cam 16 and the roller 17 and the piston 12 is subjected to suction so that the finger 5 is caused to seize the pointed part of the stocking C and clamp it against the lower edge of the nipple 4. Thereupon, the passage of air through the nipple 4 is reversed and the stocking is straightened, as shown in FIG. 3, and then, by another cam 16 on the drum 15, the control mechanism is so adjusted that compressed air is introduced into the pipe 14 so that the clamping device is opened and the finger 5 and all other parts connected therewith are moved into the position indicated by the broken lines in FIG. 6.

It should be noted that the drawings illustrate the condition diagrammatically and that in actual practice the tubular body 2 has a smaller size.

If desired, a transverse baffle 22 may be arranged within the tubular body 2 at a short distance away from the screen 4a for guiding the pointed part or the toe portion of the stocking C toward the lower part of the screen 4a.

If it should happen-but in actual practice will rarely happen, if at allthat a stocking C is not seized by the finger 5, the stocking would subsequently 'be conveyed by the compressed air introduced by the nipple 4 toward the tubular conduit 1 and would plug the same. In order to prevent this, the tubular body 2 has installed therein near its right hand end a safety switch. According to FIG. 9, this safety switch comprises a housing 6 attached to the bottom of the tubular body 2 and within which a switch lever 6a is pivotally mounted between its ends. The switch lever 6a is normally held in a vertical position by a spring 23 and extends with its upper end into the tubular body 2. A contact 24 is mounted electrically insulated in the switch housing 6 and is connected with an outwardly leading conductor 24a. The housing 6 itself is connected with a grounded conductor 60. The spring 23 which is attached with one of its ends to the lower end of the switch lever "6a is a rather weak one" and will permit the switch lever 6a to rotate clockwise as soon as a slight pressure in the direction of the arrow 25 is exerted upon the upper end of the switch lever 6a. Therefore, as soon as a stocking is not seized by the finger 5 and is conveyed by compressed air toward the right and engages the switch lever 6a, the latter is rotated and engages the contact 24 whereby means are operated which stop the entire circular knitting machine, and a signal is energized such as a red lamp which indicates that the knitting machine is inoperative.

When a stocking C enters the tubular body 2 from the tubular conduit 1 and moves from the right end toward the left end of the tubular body 2, it moves without difiiculty over the switch lever 6a and even if the latter should be tilted somewhat anti-clockwise, no electrical contact is engaged and therefore no electrical switching operation takes place.

Aftr the stocking C has been straightened in the tubular body 2 as shown in FIG. 3 by an air stream flowing from the nipple 4 toward the right hand end of the tubular body 2, the flow of the air stream in the tubular body is stopped and the flap 7 on the lower portion of the tubular body 2 is opened. The clamping device 5 is caused to release the stocking and the stocking drops into a container -8 placed below the tubular body 2. The container 8 extends horizontallly substantially parallel along the entire length of the tubular body 2 and receives the horizontally stretched stockings one by one and stores the same in a neat stack one on top of the other, as shown in the FIGS. 4 and 4a.

This method and device of the invention are particularly advantageous in connection with such knitting methods in which after the completion of the knitting the stocking is inverted in known manner.

The individual functions, such as the reversion of the air stream, the actuation of the clamping device, and the opening of the flap, are performed and controlled as described in the foregoing in known manner by the indexing drum of the circular knitting machine, either by mechanical means, pneumatic means or electric means.

What I claim is:

1. A method for straightening stockings in their longitudinal direction when they leave a circular knitting machine and stacking the straightened stockings, in which the knitted stocking is conveyed lengthwise by an air stream caused to flow in a predetermined direction from said knitting machine into a tubular chamber by being introduced into one end of said chamber, seizing at the other end of said chamber the pointed part of the stocking arriving there, straightening and stretching said stocking in said chamber by said air stream which is caused to flow in the opposite direction than heretofore, whereupon said straightened and stretched stocking is discharged through the bottom of said chamber after said air stream has been stopped and said stocking toe has been released, for depositing said stocking at a predetermined place outside said chamber.

2. A device for straightening stockings when they leave a circular knitting machine and stacking said straightened stockings, said device comprising:

(a) a horizontally disposed tubular body,

(b) conduit means connecting one end of said tubular with said circular knitting machine for receiving a knitted stocking therefrom,

(c) alternately operable air suction and air supply means associated with the opposite end of said tubular body,

(d) clamping means at said opposite end of said tubular body for seizing the pointed part of a stocking when the latter is conveyed into said tubular body when said air suction means is operative, and

(e) a hinged flap forming a portion of the downwardly facing wall of said tubular body and through 5 which the straightened stocking is discharged after said air supply means has been operative and has straightened the stocking and then has been shut ofi and said clamping means has released said pointed part of said stocking.

3. A device according to claim 2, including electrical contact means within said tubular body for stopping the operation of the circular knitting machine when said pointed part of said stocking is accidentally released by said clamping means.

4. A device according to claim 2, including electrical contact means movable in one direction opposite to the direction of normal stocking travel within said tubular body for energizing a signalling device when said pointed part of said stocking is accidentally released by said clamping means.

References Cited 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,071,949 1/1963 St. Pierre 66--150 3,157,439 11/1964 Salmona. 3,323,334 6/1967 Richards et a1. 66157 XR 10 WM. CARTER REYNOLDS, Primary Examiner U.s.c1.XLR. 

